Channy Pan Y Comidas Guatemaltecas

GUATEMALA 🇬🇹

📍 12631 Hawthorne Blvd., Hawthorne, South Bay

(Second location further south on Hawthorne Blvd. in Lawndale)

COVID-19 UPDATE: The small dining room is open for service.

Under metal lettering advertising a long-closed pupuseria, Channy Pan moved in almost a decade ago and changed this long, narrow space to a wonder of Guatemalan baked goods and prepared foods. But those wandering in for that most Salvadoran of treats will still be happy, as they are made well here. If you have ever been to Guatemala you will remember seeing them all over place, you would never guess they were the product of their neighbors to the south without knowing better.

With nearby Cafe Cuba & Cakes, this block of Hawthorne Blvd. is a powerhouse of breads and other baked goods. The long, narrow spaces are home to big kitchens with lots of room for baking. In the case of Channy Pan, the kitchen is so long and busy that they recommend you walk around the building outside to get to the restroom at the rear.

Besides the posters advertising Antigua and Xelajú (the nickname of Quetzaltenango) and colorful photos of Guatemalan wildlife and handicrafts, the first thing you will notice is the long list of available pan (bread), which runs from the countertop almost down to the floor. A case holds some of these, but those familiar with the delicacies by name definitely have a leg up when ordering.

In addition to breads and sweet pastries, you can get a range of sandwiches popular to Chapines put on good breads. Ingredients range from longaniza to eggs to beans, and they also do a mean shuco, often called a Guatemalan hot dog but a mix of many more condiments as well with a chopped up link and bacon.

Even more exciting are full meals made in the kitchen and tamales ($4.50 each, far left of photo above), available in chicken or pork. Guatemalan tamales, like those of other Central American countries are wrapped in banana leaves for steaming, which holds in all the fats and drippings from the large chunks of meat which are then soaked into the masa for a flavor explosion.

They make caldo de gallina ($15.95, above) daily, not just on weekends and serve it with rice and a potato salad that may have more mayonnaise than all the other ingredients combined. The soup itself can be served with a thigh or breast, which is roasted and served on the side, while the broth has necks and gizzards for flavor. Taking a first sip almost makes you want to be sick so you can be even more comforted by its hug.

There are certain types of people that can never leave a Guatemalan restaurant without an order of hilachas ($14.95, above), and those that are will be very happy with their meal at Channy Pan. A superbly rich tomato-based stew that must have been simmered for three weeks with tender shredded beef and potatoes. This is what all beef stew should be.

Sometimes the cuts of beef can seem cheap and worthy of throwing away in hilachas when the kitchen is cheating, but here although this is not prime it is not an afterthought. Use the thick corn tortillas that come with most meal orders to dip in the stew or pick up pieces and you will have enough energy, carbs, and protein to get through two days of work.

Sometimes you can get pepián with beef, which is incredibly lovely, but almost everyday the pepián de gallina ($14.95, above) is available. This focuses almost solely on the thick stew of pumpkin seeds and spices. A few pieces of green beans are in there, but any carrots or chayote are omitted in favor of a hen leg with foot still attached.

Again do not be afraid to get the most out of your tortillas, as dunking them in the thick sauce coats all sides of any piece submerged and lets you savor it without the addition of the taste of meat. If you have ever had the bread products from the bakery, please tell some of your favorites below. The article will be updated with future visits to test these and the sandwiches.

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Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

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Cafe Cuba & Cakes

CUBA 🇨🇺

📍 12215 S. Hawthorne Blvd., Hawthorne, South Bay

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (20 February 2026) is available as part of the Free Friday Favorites section of our Substack page. Check that out here:
https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/cafe-cuba-and-cakes-los-angeles

Whether it has been vandalized or oxidized, the signage on fast-paced Hawthorne Blvd. is almost impossible to read, allowing this long-running Hawthorne favorite to hide in plain sight. You probably would not get a whiff of the glorious breads being made in the back while at full speed down the boulevard either unfortunately. It takes a friend's suggestion to find your way here, and one look at the families and groups that you will see eating together is proof of that.

If you take your meal at one of the well-spaced tables inside, you will see people walking out with multiple bags of 40 cent bolillos, Cuba's staple bread loaf, and if you peek into the back kitchen you will see rolling bakery carts with many trays of breads and sweets. If you do not make your own cubanos at home, make sure to save some space for dessert or just come for coffee and a pastry since it is obvious the bakery is doing so well.

This is also all the more reason to order one of their many sandwiches, of which they have all the favorite Cuban options like pan con bistec, milanesa, lechon and of course the cubano itself. If you prefer the medianoche ($11.95, above), the same sandwich ingredients as a cubano but on a sweet egg-y soft bread, you will be impressed by the one here. This is pressed in the toaster just like the others, creating a crispy top and making sure the insides are nice and close.

What makes this one of the best Cuban sandwiches in town is the perfect ratio of ingredients and pickly-ness. If someone compares this to a ham and cheese sandwich, they deserve a slap in the face. Despite having both of those items, the keys to a delicious cubano or medianoche are the juicy pernil, which is excellent here, and a layer of crisp pickles.

Moving on from the bread and bakery related dishes, having full meals here is rewarding simply because they make a very delicious sofrito. More than a spice or a sauce, sofrito is the foundation of a Cuban home kitchen and is an assortment of always aromatic ingredients and spices that are sauteed together with cooking oils to use as a base. Many of the platos here (served with rice and beans, plantains, and bread) have meats served with sofrito, so whether you are in the mood for oxtails, pork, beef or chicken, plan to enjoy every bite.

While you are likely to find ropa vieja at any restaurant calling itself Cuban, the beef pot roast of this island nation called boliche ($18.95, above) is much more rare because it requires a very talented chef. Thick slices of eye round look dry and tough at first glance but are perfectly tender and juicy. Some slices are stuffed with olives and chorizo in the center like you often see with this dish, but the good cuts of beef and wonderful sofrito would be enough to satisfy on their own.

All the platos have a choice between white rice and black beans and moro, as well as tostones or maduros, so get two options to have all four of these things simultaneously. There is no weak link. You also get a half piece of toasted bolillo with these as well, especially useful to make sure no drop of sofrito goes wasted on the bottom of a plate.

The costillas de puerco ($16.95, above) are just as satisfying as the boliche, big pork ribs also living in the sofrito. These are again cooked by someone who knows very well what they are doing and have the comforting taste of many decades of experience somehow. Every bite of these and the pork-y black beans that are a must order are a full taste of Cuba.

Hopefully you have room for one of their delicious pastelitos before you leave, but even if you have stuffed yourself silly take some home for later or tomorrow morning with your coffee. The pastelito de guayaba y queso ($1.35, above) has the perfect ratios of guava paste (which you can also buy a block of!) and cheese. The flaky bread around it all is made with skill as expected.

Cubans and Cuban cuisine lovers in Hawthorne are very lucky to have a place like this nearby, but honestly it is also worth driving to from wherever you live if the cravings creep up. From coffee and a bolillo in the morning to a large round of platos fuertos at lunch and dinner to the end of the night with that medianoche, this restaurant is doing everything right.

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I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

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Algerian Home Chef Mamat Yakoub

ALGERIA 🇩🇿

📍 135th Street & Kornblum Avenue, Hawthorne, South Bay

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a private home-based chef. Please reach out to me through Twitter or Instagram if you would like her contact information as I did not want to publish it here. An updated version of this article (06 October 2025) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here:

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/algerian-home-chef-mamat-yakoub

While doing the work of finding Algerians in Greater Los Angeles, so far publicly limited to Chef Zadi and his Revolutionario Tacos, a little luck came the way of this website while finding them cheering on their national football team. While Algeria was eliminated from World Cup contention by a very late stoppage time goal by Cameroon, and the place Algerians gather to cheer on their team was no longer going to be packed in November, another chef came into focus.

Many cuisines around Southern California call themselves Mediterranean because of their proximity to this body of water and a generally familiarity of the word with potential clients, but Algeria is possibly the perfect example of purely Mediterranean cuisine. It has influences from almost every shore on all sides of the sea, ingredients coming by land and water for thousands of years to create the foods that are beloved today.

Algerian food and the chefs that prepare it, like the food of other nations both easy and hard to find in Los Angeles all exist on a network of online communities, in WhatsApp and Facebook groups and elsewhere. If you live in a decent-sized city and are in need of food from back home but there is no restaurant, there is a good chance that you can still find it through other means. Another chef in the same group that this one was found was advertising her dishes to residents of Columbus, Ohio.

Since there are both Moroccan and Tunisian restaurants in Southern California, Algerian food will not seem completely new to those that have tried these other North African cuisines. But Chef Yakoub does have some dishes that do not show up on those menus and deeper dives into exclusively Algerian bites are definitely possible.

When you open the container of tlitli b'djedi (above), sometimes considered Algeria's national dish, the wonderful spices of Algeria and garlic combine and emanate throughout your house. The word tlitli refers to the orzo-like pasta that is usually homemade in Algerian homes.

Interestingly this dish and the others had all the base notes correct but could have been considered bland by people that are used to a lot of spice in their life. It is unclear if this was a decision by a chef who knew the order was not being placed by an Algerian or if her cooking style reflects this. That being said, all the flavors were comfortable and felt like home, no matter where you come from.

Kesra matlouh, made from hard wheat and semolina.

Slightly charred from reheating in the air fryer (not recommended).

Known as the more familiar term brik at Tunisian restaurants around town, bourek (above) are ground beef-filled rolls that are often served during Ramadan alongside the stew chorba frik (below). The former are wrapped with thin, crackly dough, something that you will see on almost every table in Algiers each night of this holy month of fasting.

Chorba frik has both beef and chicken and is full of coriander which dominates the flavor. The broth is tomato-based and the stew is hearty from being full of tiny pellets of crushed green wheat.

What most people would actually consider the national dish is couscous (above), which Chef Yakoub serves with a choice of chicken or a shank of lamb. You can also decide if you want a white or red sauce (shown) with your meat.

The couscous is dressed with potatoes, carrots, zucchini, and most importantly chickpeas, which are numerous in both containers. Any future restaurant that the chef opens is looked forward to so that the dish can be eaten straight from the tajine it is cooked in.

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Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

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Biryani House Halal Tandoori Restaurant

PAKISTAN 🇵🇰

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (30 November 2024) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here:

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/biryani-house-halal-tandoori-restaurant

If you drive down the avenues of Hawthorne long enough, you will probably see the Biryani House delivery and catering van with the words "Best Biryani in LA" emblazoned across the side. And if you are a specific type of person, "challenge accepted" immediately rolls through your brain.

Biryani House has been around for most of the time more popular places like Zam Zam and others on Inglewood Avenue in Hawthorne and Lawndale have been getting media attention, but somehow never makes lists and roundups. Do the editors at Eater LA know more than the owners of this truck? The only way to find out is to give everything a try.

The truck advertises four versions of biryani, but there are actually six including "student biryani," named for the national chain in Pakistan that makes their own style. In addition to the usual suspects, you can also get vegetarian or shrimp biryani.

At the top of the list is chicken biryani ($11, below), cooked with healthy chunks of meat, a couple potatoes, and even a few pieces of star anise. The basmati is still slick with oils and fragrant from spicing, but will not overwhelm you as the combinations are done just right.

This space does not exist to declare bests in the city, but rest assured that you will be far from disappointed, and for the price there is at least two meals here. South Asian foods can hold up well for takeout that is meant to be eaten later in the day or even overnight. The microwave might not be good at much, but rice like this that has been infused with so much moisture and spice is one thing that works.

Do not skip the goat section of the menu, which includes only a korma and this goat karahi ($14, below), named for the wok-like cooking vessel. Peshawar, a city that prides itself in having the absolute best karahis in South Asia, would be proud of the chef here, who has created an explosion of deliciousness.

When shared between three people, it seemed to be the dish that kept getting returned to most. The pieces of goat were full of large bones, but pick them up and make sure to remove every morsel from every crevice, as you do not want to leave anything behind.

It must have been over a decade since the last time a Pakistani restaurant was left without an order of haleem ($10, below), an absolute favorite. The version here is good, not great, but not a loss if it is what you are in the mood for.

The shredded beef, barley and lentil stew is not quite as spicy and herbaceous as recent bowls eaten nearby, but still hit the spot.

If you are able to dine in, grab big discs of naan to scrape the last liquids off your plates and explore their tandoori menu. They also do a nehari that looks tasty, and a fish fry which would be great eaten fresh.

📍 14936 S. Prairie Avenue, Hawthorne, South Bay

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I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

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Al-Watan Halal Tandoori Restaurant

PAKISTAN 🇵🇰

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (30 October 2024) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here:

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/al-watan-halal-tandoori-restaurant-pakistani-los-angeles

For the past 16 months when takeout was the primary (and safest) option, South Asian foods featured heavily in the eating rotations, with dishes that naturally lend themselves well for eating a bit later in the day or being heated back up the next. Dishes of tandoori baked and grilled meats with rice, curries, and slow-cooked stews might even taste better when left in the fridge overnight.

Places like Al-Watan have been perfecting takeout for decades, but you can sit down for lunch and dinner again if desired. Unlike some of the other Pakistani places nearby, this is not a restaurant attached to a grocery store and does do formal (read: casual) dining.

If you are dining in, there may be no better time to order the sizzling plate of mix tandoori ($17, above). Named for the clay oven it is cooked in, this plate is a mix of chicken and beef, which comes in different cuts and might have a seekh kabob thrown in for good measure.

The tandoori chicken is a star here, juicy and perfectly marinated. And while little cups of the spicy cilantro-laced yogurt sauce will definitely come packed with to go orders, when you sit down it comes in a big ketchup squeeze bottle and feels unlimited. It is delicious, and improves anything it touches.

Those to-go orders seem to be full of lunch and dinner specials that the restaurant has been providing for many years. The dinner special ($12, above center, comes with naan) has a seekh kabob and drumstick of tandoori chicken over rice and adds both a lamb and chicken korma, lentils, and yogurt sauce. There is no part of this plate that is weak.

A recent takeout order also included their spicy haleem ($10, above, lower right), a balanced stew of shredded beef, barley, and lentils that might be the best in Los Angeles, and chicken tikka masala ($12, above, bottom center), which has a smokiness to it and reads much different than the sweet slop that is usually pedaled. It proves the dish has an important history despite being fusion born in London.

📍 13619 S. Inglewood Avenue, Hawthorne, South Bay

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I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

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Any's Tamales

🇬🇹 GUATEMALA

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (02 February 2024) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here:

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/anys-tamales

 

This past weekend was the beginning of a new home business based in Hawthorne called Any's Tamales. Any is Ana Roman Morales and like her, her tamales are of Guatemalan descent. Orders can be placed through her Instagram account, and for now everything is pickup only in Hawthorne.

Two varieties are on offer as of now, chicken and a vegetarian version that uses the same ingredients minus the meat. In Guatemala, you will notice a red flag outside of a business or home to signify on Saturdays when the fresh tamales are ready to be purchased. Here at Any's they hung a red balloon, which was close enough to bring back good memories.

You may be familiar with chuchitos from Guatemalan restaurants or markets around Los Angeles, a type of tamal wrapped in corn husks like their Mexican cousins and a bit drier. These tamales that Any makes are tamales colorados, wrapped and steamed inside of banana leaves, chicken thigh, pumpkin seeds, and a complex red sauce that leads to the name.

The resulting product is full of moisture from all of its ingredients and sauces, and like chuchitos, deeply satisfying. Receiving a package is a pleasant experience, shown above with the care they give to their presentation.

Guatemalan tamales are a bit larger than those Mexican cousins, and one can go quite a ways to filling up a "normal" person. Two should satisfy anyone. Do to the fact that they are weekend or special occasion tradition, it is clear that Any's will be a welcome addition to customers seeking to bring many tamales back to their homes in Los Angeles with the familiar tastes of back home in Guatemala.

Check out the photos below first of chicken and then vegetarian. Keep up with Any's Tamales through their Instagram to see when the next batch will be. As of this article, orders are going to be taken from 31 August to 03 September to be picked up on 05 Saturday and 06 Sunday of that weekend.

Chicken.

Vegetarian.

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HAWTHORNE South Bay
Online Orders Only

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Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better and you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

You can Venmo me @JAREDCOHEE or click here to send PayPal donation, no account is necessary. Thank you!

Mariscos Guillen

🇲🇽 MÉXICO

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (22 January 2024) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here:

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/mariscos-guillen

 

On flights in and out of LAX, avoided when possible but sometimes inevitable, the silver lining is always food. For a while it was Mariscos Chente that was the first destination when returning, but lately the Lyft instructions usually point toward 106 Seafood Underground. Before most travel came to a halt, a recent trip returned on a Tuesday, Chef Sergio's day off, and afforded the opportunity to seek out more LAX-adjacent mariscos, this time in Hawthorne.

Mariscos Guillen, named for the original owner, was a fun lunch find and much more than the simple counter-service joint it presents itself as. The menu of offerings is actually quite vast, but the stack of tostadas near the register for ordering might clue you into what most people are eating here.

With a truck that parks in Inglewood and another bricks and mortar location in Santa Monica they call "La Playita," the franchise makes a name for itself up and down the 405. None of them are fancy, remaining workaday mariscos joints through and through. You will see construction workers and locals here, people that demand a lot for their money.

Pay in cash, take your seat, and get settled. As simple dishes like the ceviche tostada ($2.50, above) are enjoyed, someone will come over and make sure everything is good. The place has all the makings of a joint you want to become a regular in.

If you are more interested in clean, fresh shrimp unadorned, the shrimp tostada ($6, above) is a good call. A little surprising, but then again not really, was the offer of ketchup. "Is that the style here?"

"Yes."

Add a little heat with their delicious salsa made with chiles de arból, which could really be slathered over everything.

For those that want a few more ingredients and fresh vegetables, the fish and shrimp tacos (above) are an even better choice, coming with their house-made smoky mayo. The chef does a great job toasting up the tortillas.

Make sure to add more of that salsa on top of the mayo, and prepare yourself to walk back up to the counter to order some micheladas once you notice most of the other customers enjoying them. Settle in, you're already a regular.

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 HAWTHORNE South Bay
12319 Prairie Avenue

I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better and you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

You can Venmo me @JAREDCOHEE or click here to send PayPal donation, no account is necessary. Thank you!